Stevie Wonder’s Final Top 40 US Hit Recalled His 70s Peak

The fickle nature of pop music ensures that even the finest artists only enjoy a finite window of success when it comes to hit singles. Nobody in music history stretched that theory to its limits quite like Stevie Wonder.

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For a quarter-century that was blown by blustery musical winds of change, Wonder remained a constant on the pop charts. His streak finally ended with a song that acted as a throwback to some of his finest work.

Wonder’s Run

It will really blow your mind when you start looking at the chart dominance of Stevie Wonder. Don’t just focus on the length of his time in the upper echelons of the pop world, which is awe-inspiring on its own level. (We won’t even get into his elite status in the R&B world here, another massive accomplishment.)

Consider the consistency as well. Starting in 1963 and ending in 1987, there were only four years out of those 25 years when Wonder failed to put a song in the US Top 40. Those misses generally occurred because he simply didn’t release any music during that calendar year. In other words, no flops.

Aside from the chart numbers, Wonder’s consensus artistic high peak came in the 70s. That’s when he stepped out from the oversight of Motown to take charge of his musical direction on a series of incendiary albums. He created wildly inventive music during this span, while his lyrics weren’t afraid to go on the attack. Perhaps not surprisingly, his final Top 40 hit, which arrived in 1987, feels of a piece with that earlier era.

A Grand Return

After proving himself as one of the most prolific major artists throughout the 60s and 70s, Stevie Wonder took a bit of a break at the start of the 80s. He focused during that time on throwing his weight behind causes in which he believed. As a result, he went five years (1980 to 1985) without releasing a full-length album.

His 1985 album, In Square Circle, received a lot of notoriety due to it being a comeback of sorts. Wonder proved that he had lost nothing off his fastball. The album contained a series of smash hits, including the chart-topper “Part-Time Lover”. When the Characters album was released two years later, the response was a bit more muted.

Still, the lead single, “Skeletons”, sparkled with the luster of some of Wonder’s biggest 70s anthems. Musically, its relentless funk isn’t that far removed from his 1972 smash “Superstition”. (No clavichord, though.) Even so, the lyrical attack might be the most obvious common bond between the song and Wonder’s hot stretch from the previous decade.

“Skeletons” Emerging

In the 70s, Stevie Wonder often called out the powers that be in his songs, most notably on the 1974 no. 1 single “You Haven’t Done Nothin’”. “Skeletons” doesn’t get specific about its target in that same way. But it does call out peddlers of BS everywhere, suggesting that their lies will eventually be exposed.

Wonder’s way with words is both playful and fierce throughout the song. “Oh, things are gettin’ real crucial / Up the old wazoo,” he smirks.

“Crevices in your pantry” reveal themselves eventually. “Somebody done fired up the brimstone,” he warns. “And you’re gettin’ ready to burn.”

The extended version of “Skeletons” includes sound bites from President Ronald Reagan and Oliver North. That made it clear that current events did indeed play into Wonder’s motive for writing the song. In any case, its no. 19 chart position would be Stevie’s last foray into the Top 40. Over 25 years of singles’ relevance ain’t bad, right?

Photo by Fin Costello/Redferns